DA committed to fighting crime: Free State Community Policing Bill submitted in the Free State Legislature
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is committed to making positive contributions to the fight against crime in the Free State Province. The impact of crime in rural and urban areas is catastrophic. Besides the trauma it causes to communities, it contributes to poor social cohesion and increased unemployment and poverty in the province.
The DA is committed to fighting both rural and urban crime in the province.
While the SAPS remain the responsibility of national government, there is much that a province can do by improving the oversight role of the province over policing.
Among other DA proposals that contribute to the fight against this scourge, I have submitted a Private Member’s Bill, Free State Community Policing Bill (2019), to the Speaker for tabling in the new term of the Free State Legislature. This bill has the following objectives:
To develop and introduce provincial oversight models in respect of the police in compliance with the constitutional mandate of provinces to monitor police conduct and to oversee the effectiveness and efficiency of the SAPS in the Province. An effective and efficient police service will achieve increased levels of safety and an open society that is free from fear of crime. The functions of oversight are, in terms of the Bill, focussed on detecting patterns and practices of police conduct, identifying systemic failures in the police system and making recommendations on how best to improve policing in the province;